Masquerade of the Fox
by crrrazy
Summary: Sarutobi Hiruzen regretted that he was unable to honour the Yondaime's wish for Naruto to be seen as a hero. Many see him as the Kyuubi given human form. But..what if they were right?BloodlineNarutoX small harem? No NarutoXKyuubi RatedM just in case
1. Only an Act

My first attempt at writing a fanfic and I know it's not the best writing out there. Well this idea has rolled in my head for quite some time and I'm not sure if it's already been done before. I've seen quite a few where Naruto has already met the Kyuubi or already knows about it but i've never seen this before. Maybe someone has already done this before and if they did: I am not deliberately stealing your idea, someone had to have thought the same thing before. Also my writing style may change as start "developing my own style".

Also...Disclaimer:I DON'T own Naruto(if i did the art would look like shit since my skill is the same as first grader's) or anything else that might look like a rip off.

"Normal Speak"

_"Thought"_

_Flashback_

**Jutsu**

**"Kyuubi/Demon Speak"**

* * *

><p><em>(In one of the forests in Konoha)<em>

"Did you ever wonder why everybody hated you? Why nobody played with you? Why they all look at you they do?" asked Mizuki while preparing to finish off his former colleague Iruka and Kyuubi brat.

"Mizuki, no! It's forbidden to talk about that!" Iruka pleaded.

"Thirteen years ago, a law was made, a law that everybody knows except for _you_. Do you want to know what it is?" taunted Mizuki, grinning from ear to ear.

In front of him, Naruto stood still while Mizuki was about to reveal one of the greatest secrets kept from the younger generation. Iruka could only wonder what the consequences of such an action would be while he could do nothing but watch, injured and unable to do anything to stop it, as the scene before him played out.

"_You_, Naruto are the Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked Konoha thirteen years ago! That's why everyone hates you! It's because you are the monster that killed many of the villagers and nearly destroyed our home!"

Mizuki's grin got even wider, and with a insane gleam in his eye, and eagerly waited to see the look of shock, despair and horror that the demon's face was about to take. He was cackling like a madman internally, waiting for the show to start all that came to an abrupt halt when the sound of chuckling filled the air. It was soft at first, barely audible, but eventually it got louder until all in the clearing could hear it. It came from the boy behind Iruka; the one who he made sure failed the exam to become a Genin. It came from Naruto. Both Iruka and Mizuki looked towards the blonde to see why he was laughing at what he he was just told.

Wondering if the boy had snapped from the knowledge, Iruka looked at the boy and hesitantly asked, "Naruto, are you okay?"

The boy stopped chuckling and replied; "I'm fine sensei, it's just that my act is up." With that he looked up at the two before him with a bloodthirsty grin and an evil look in his eyes. An inhuman amount of KI came from the boy and seemed to roll off of him.

**"Tell me Mizuki, just how did you know it was me in the **_**brat's**_** body? I thought my ruse fooled everyone, not even that old man suspected a thing. So how did you figure out it was me and not a human?"**

At this point "Naruto", or more accurately the Kyuubi, sported a grin the threatened to split his face from the looks of horror and the faces of the two Chunins in front of him.

_(Hokage's Tower)_

Back in the office of the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen the Sandaime Hokage, watched the events play out since the beginning and paled from the revelation that the boy he thought of as a second grandson never really existed, that he was just a lie fabricated by the Kyuubi to hide behind.

"_But..but how? The Yondaime developed the seal himself. There was no way he could have possibly made a mistake. The seal has been checked countless times while the boy was in the hospital by myself personally. He has been monitored by ANBU since his birth up until he was in the middle of his academy years. There has been no trace of any abnormal behaviour. Just how is it possible that that is the Kyuubi?"_

The Hokage could not believe what was happening and did not know how to explain just how the Kyuubi was in control of Naruto's body and thought to himself,_ "There's no use dwelling on how it happened, I must prepare to battle it….even if it means I might have to kill Naruto…but for now I'll just get ready and until I call ANBU to aid in destroying….that thing."_

_(Back in the forest)_

"Wha…what?" was all Iruka could say as he tried to comprehend just what he just heard.

Mizuki however was just as shocked with the turn of events as he took a step back while starting to sweat.

"_This wasn't supposed to happen! The brat was supposed to be distracted by that while moved in to finish Iruka off then take care of him. He wasn't supposed to really be the Kyuubi! What the hell do I do now?"_

Mizuki's mind was wrapping his mind around how his plan failed and the lie that he told was in reality the truth, the cold, hard, horrifying truth that the boy in front of him was really the Kyuubi turned human like many believed him to be.

"I…..I knew it! I always knew you were the Kyuubi and now you just admitted it! When I kill you, I'll be praised in the village as a hero for finishing you off!"

Trying to regain whatever courage he lost after the revelation, Mizuki laughed to himself to help reinforce his belief that the situation was still to his advantage.

**"I congratulate you on knowing of my trick but tell me…..just how do you, a mere Chunin, plan on killing me, the greatest of the demons?"**

The look on the Kyuubi's face was one of confidence and amusement as he waited for Mizuki to answer fully knowing that he would get no reply. Both Iruka and Mizuki could tell that the Kyuubi did not see them as threats, merely insects to play around with before crushing them. There was no way they could win against the Kyuubi, turned human or not.

**"Well, I'm waiting for an answer, **_**human**_**."**

Neither Iruka nor Mizuki gave an answer, both fearing what would happen and how they could get out of this situation.

**"Since no one's going to answer, let's get this slaughter started"**

With that said, the Kyuubi brought his hands forward and made a sign and called out,"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" **and with it hundreds of clones materialized all around the clearing they were in. They were everywhere, in the trees, among the bushes, or just in plain sight. An uncountable number of clones stood ready for battle, ready to inflict pain and suffering, and ready to destroy any vestiges of confidence the Chunin had of winning or escaping.

"_These are _**Kage Bunshin**_, solid clones, and there are so many. There's no way he can beat the Kyuubi even if I helped him."_ Iruka couldn't help but awe at the sheer number of them or the reserves needed to create that many with exhausting yourself.

"So what if you've made some **Bunshin**,it doesn't mean shit against me you monster!"

**"Hehe…we'll just see how well they fare then won't we?"** With that all the clones prepared themselves in various ways from taking out kunai or shuriken to getting ready to pounce bare-handed. The **Kage Bunshin** all launched forward near simultaneously and while Mizuki put up a struggle; it was futile in the end as the numbers overwhelmed him before he experienced a one-sided beat down that could be heard a mile away.

_(Sometime later)_

After being dispelled, the Kyuubi tied up Mizuki and made sure that he would not be able to escape. He suddenly heard movement behind him and saw that it was Iruka coming closer to him albeit warily and tense, ready to react in an instant if he were to be attacked. Knowing what was going through his sensei's head from what he heard; he replied," Hey sensei, how was my acting? I got you all good, right?"

THIS threw Iruka off as he just stared at the boy in front of him, the look in his eyes from before replaced by the look of playfulness and the bloodthirsty grin replaced by his trademark smile. The malevolent aura around disappeared and the KI was gone. "Naruto…is that really you?" Wondering what just happened to the tension in the air just moments ago.

"Who else would it be?"

"But you just said you were the Kyuubi. You weren't even surprised when he said that."

"Well duh, if he thought I was the Kyuubi then I might as well go with it you know? I mean a shinobi's greatest tool _is _deception so I might as well fool him into believing it, right Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka couldn't believe it. _"We just got punked!"_ While he could not believe that Mizuki and himself were just tricked into believing Naruto was actually the Kyuubi, he was extremely relieved that Naruto was not in fact the Kyuubi.

"Naruto, I can't believe you fooled us so easily…Naruto, close your eyes for a bit, would you?"

"Huh? Sure Iruka-sensei but what for?" After closing his eyes he felt something being removed from his forehead and something put back afterwards.

"You can open your eyes now Naruto."

When he opened his eyes, Naruto wondered what just happened until he saw the goggles he wore in his sensei's hand and slowly reached up to his forehead and felt the metal of a hitai-ate on his forehead. A look of confusion spread across his face as he looked at Iruka.

"Naruto you've shown yourself capable of being a shinobi tonight with your trick as well as your use of the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** and because of that I congratulate you on becoming a Genin of Konoha" Iruka was truly proud of his student tonight as he showed traits worthy of a shinobi and realized that he was ready to graduate. The look on Naruto's face went from confusion to that of shock and joy as he suddenly hugged his sensei and thanked him.

_(Hokage Tower sometime later)_

After taking care of Mizuki and handing him over to the proper individuals and taking care of Iruka's injuries, Iruka and Naruto made their way to the Hokage's office to report what happened. Meanwhile, the Hokage breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the boy he knew wasn't the Kyuubi. _"Thank God, Naruto isn't the Kyuubi. He even had me going with his act. I swear he's going to give me a heart attack one of these days."_ The Hokage's train of thought was cutoff by the arrival of the boy in question and Iruka.

"Hey jiji, check it out I'm a Genin now!" Naruto had the biggest smile on his face as he showed off his hitai-ate to his grandfather figure.

The old Hokage could only smile at the sight of the boy, so happy that he would be a shinobi now. "Yes, congratulations Naruto you've certainly earned it after tonight."

"Yeah, just you wait jiji soon you'll be handing over that hat!" Naruto declared.

At this the Hokage chuckled before replying, "Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that Naruto, being a Genin is just the first step. It'll be some time still before you're ready to become Hokage."

While the two were having their conversation, Iruka could only feel thankful that there were others in Konoha that cared as much about Naruto as he did. After watching the two converse for a few minutes he interrupted them and went over the events that occurred that night.

"…and that ends my report Hokage-sama."

"Thank you Iruka for the report. As for what occurred, this will be considered a B-rank mission and you will both be paid for it. Iruka, you should take it easy the next few days to make sure your injuries are fully healed before you consider doing missions. Naruto, be at the academy in two day's at 9 to find out what team you will be in. If that is all, you two may leave."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." With a bow, Iruka started to leave the office.

Naruto however stayed where he was. "Uh jiji, there's something I wanna ask you about the Kyuubi."

At this Iruka looked at the Hokage, who told him he can go while he talks to Naruto about it. After they are alone, including the ANBU leaving, and activating the privacy seals in the office, Sarutobi starts it off. "So what did you want to know about the Kyuubi, Naruto-kun?"

**"How about we start with me controlling the brat's body?"** His canines were prominent in his grin and his eyes were slit and crimson. This was Kyuubi.

* * *

><p>Well that's my first attempt at a fanfic. So tell me what you think and give some feedback. I'm more than willing to hear some criticisms to my writing as I'm a noob. Next chapter:The Past and the Irony<p> 


	2. The Past and the Irony

Quite a few things happened between last Tuesday and now. Midterms, labs, and my cousin's grad ceremony. When I was attending the ceremony I realized i didn't know what her degree was or even what her faculty was. When it was announced I was like "WTF she's in the faculty of business/business school?" and then I thought "That makes sense since I never see her since I'm a science student and the buildings are basically on the opposite sides of campus." But enough about that.

This chapter is short since I'm still kinda planning things out but they will get longer later on. Also, updates will happen once maybe twice a week and will usually be updated on either Tues,Sat,or Sun.

**Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or any other manga and pray that I don't for my drawing is absolute shit at best. I apologize if anything I have written looks like it is stolen and anything I write that looks like plagiarism is accidental.  
><strong>

"Normal Speak"

_"Thought"_

_Flashback_

**Jutsu**

**"Kyuubi/Demon Speak"**

* * *

><p><strong>Previously:<strong>

**"How about we start with me controlling the brat's body?"** His canines were prominent in his grin and his eyes were slit and crimson. This was Kyuubi.

Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately became alert at that. Ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice against Naru….no, the Kyuubi. He knew for sure that this wasn't an act, not with the Kyuubi's chakra lightly surrounding his body. While Naruto may be able deceive others using his KI into thinking he is the Kyuubi, there was no way he should be able to turn his pupils from their usual blue to crimson red , elongate his canines, or change his nails into claws. Naruto MAY have been able to reproduce those changes using his chakra, despite how highly unlikely that might be, but there was no way he could reproduce the Kyuubi's chakra.

The old Hokage did not know what to do about Naruto or was it Kyuubi? What he did know was that he would start by suppressing the Kyuubi's chakra and then get to the bottom of this. All of this went through his mind in an instant and immediately he stood up ready to attack and restrain the on in front of him.

The Kyuubi flared some of its chakra while saying,**" Relax, I'm not here to fight you old man or else I would have kill you already. I believe I said I wanted to talk with you."**

While Sarutobi did not trust its words, he decided to play along for now if only to get answers to the multitude of questions going through his mind. With that he sat back down in his chair but did not relax in the slightest in case the Kyuubi was lying to catch him off-guard and kill him.

"**Well, not like I expected you to fully trust my words but good enough"**, stated the Kyuubi who noted the wariness in the old man.

The two sat staring at each other for some time, Hiruzen with a calculating gaze and Kyuubi with a disinterested look.

Finally, it was Hiruzen the ended the silence and asked," My first question is as you said, why are _you_ in control?"

The Kyuubi could only grin at that and replied, **"Simple, I have taken control of this body by going through the seal"**

"But how, while I may not know everything about the seal, I do know that it was designed to limit your influence as much as possible. Even if you could, we would have realized what you were doing when we checked the seals for any problems."

"**Again, it is quite simple. You are correct, this seal was designed to limit my influence over the brat as well as inform you of any attempts I made but I have had time to study the mechanisms of the seal ever since I was sealed into him.",** the Kyuubi's grin widened as he explained just how he achieved what should have been detected right from the start. **"The seal would warn you of my attempt but there are ways to go around it to avoid the warning and not create any anomalies in the seal."**

"And just what are those ways?" Hiruzen asked.

"**Two conditions must be met for this to occur. One: HE must willingly give me control."**

At this Hiruzen could only look in shock at what he just heard. Not only did the Kyuubi have control but that Naruto gave him control _willingly._

"What is the second condition?"

"**The second condition is easy since he willingly gave me control. I must not use my chakra to negatively influence or control his mind after I take control and give back control whenever he requests it. In other words, after he gave me control I must not betray his trust and destroy his mind so I could fully take over and if he wants his body back then I give it."**

"Wait so Naruto is still there? He can still regain control of his body?"

"**He's in here, safe and sound, unlike out here"** At this the old Hokage could only look away.

"**As for regaining control, he's not interested or at least not yet anyways but he might later on. He's listening in on our conversation right now. So anything else you want to know?"**

"I would like to speak to Naruto"

"**Sorry but he doesn't want to, said something about you lying to him"**

Hiruzen looked at the Kyuubi to see if he was just lying about him but, to the best of his abilities, he could not detect any lie from the Kyuubi.

"Fine, I will accept that for now. Now, how long have you been in control? You couldn't have been in control since the day he was born. So when did you first gain control?"

"**Do you remember what happened eight years ago? When the brat first started the academy?"**

The Hokage knew exactly what the Kyuubi meant by that. When Naruto was five years old, he was enrolled into the academy since he wanted to become a shinobi. People caught wind of this and when Naruto was walking home from the academy, he was chased by a mob of civilians and a few shinobi who feared that letting the demon learn how to use jutsu was too dangerous and decided to get rid of it before it became too powerful.

Unfortunately ANBU were no longer watching over him anymore since becoming an academy student was a double-edged sword, on one hand he was technically no longer a civilian and the civilian council could not influence decisions regarding him but on the other hand it meant he could no longer have ANBU or other shinobi guard him since it violated the law set by the Shodaime where shinobi could not monitor or track other shinobi unless they were suspected of crimes to the village or were engaged in other illegal activities. This law was originally created to ease the minds of those joining the village at the beginning of the village since it meant others could not spy on them legally or would it allow those to learn the secrets that clans wished to keep secret. After Naruto became an academy student some argued about him having ANBU watching over him and how it violated the laws. The Sandaime could not argue against this and reluctantly recalled the ANBU.

This proved to be a fatal mistake since he was beaten and was half-dead by the time ANBU were on the scene to stop the mob. After he was rushed to the hospital, it was close and there were many times where his heart stopped and had to be revived. Despite his fast recovery rate, Naruto did not wake until a week later.

Sarutobi's train of thought was broken by the Kyuubi's laughter and asked, "And what do you find so amusing?"

"**I find the events that led me to gain control of this body amusing. I find it ironic how the villagers tried to kill the brat believing him to be me in human form and through their actions I now have control of his body"**

The Kyuubi kept on laughing at the actions of the villagers until he was interrupted by Sarutobi,"So that was when Naruto gave control to you?"

"**That's right. I offered him a chance to escape the pain, to be left alone and not see the hatred of the villagers. We made a deal during that week in the hospital."**

"….I see. And what does this deal entail?"

"**Nothing important, I give him my chakra and he gives me a bit of freedom as well as a few more things."**

The Hokage knew he would get no more information about this deal from the Kyuubi so he decided to ask about the other detail that worried him, "You said you studied the seal, does that mean you know fūinjutsu?"

"**Of course I know it, as well as the other shinobi arts."**

"And how do you know that?"

"**Don't think we biju are just mindless beasts, we are **_**sentient **_**masses of chakra. Not only that but we've lived for a long time, human and with my power, I am near invincible and can do anything I want. The way I view your race is the same as a child would view an anthill, I can easily crush you all without any effort and that is just what I did. I destroyed countless villages, ended thousands of lives, and changed the face of the Earth itself. It was all to keep myself entertained but after a while it became boring, so I decided to challenge myself when destroying something. A time limit or a similar restriction, eventually this grew boring and I decided to see if anything you humans had could entertain me. With that I learned your ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, fūinjutsu, and other arts. I decided that I would master these arts as well as others as a way to pass time. Eventually I would use them to destroy anything in my path as a way to increase my skill. While they kept me busy for some time, I eventually reached a point where I learned everything there was to learn and I decided to give the other aspects of your species a chance to pass time: your cultures, your literature, your forms of entertainment, and anything else that you humans used to pass time. Even that came to an end and I decided to wander around to find something interesting."**

To say Hiruzen was shocked would be an understatement as the implications of the fact that the Kyuubi was not a monster that just relied on brute force settled in. A beast that relied on brute force is a dangerous enemy but if that same beast had the skills to compliment such power then it would be near unstoppable. If it had such knowledge then there was another concern that came to mind, "If you have such knowledge then why not just use it to break out of the seal then?"

"**Like I said old man, I'm bored. When I was sealed into this brat, I didn't really care and thought it might provide me with some entertainment. There's not much for me to do if I escaped."**

"So you wouldn't try to destroy Konoha for sealing you into Naruto?"

"**Honestly I didn't really care about it but I do have to thank your Yondaime for sealing me into this brat."**

"What do you mean by that?"

At this the Kyuubi gets up and begins to leave while saying, **"Oh don't worry about that for now old man. There are other issues that require your attention, like the team assignments."**

"And what makes you think I will allow you to become a shinobi now that I know you are in control?"

"**One: The brat wants to become one and you owe it to him. Two: What do you think will happen if you refuse my request?"**

The old Hokage thought about it for a moment and sighed, "Fine I will allow you to become a shinobi but if you do anything suspicious…" Hiruzen let the threat hang in the air.

"**What will you do? Nothing. There's nothing you can do to stop me and in the end, I know you won't do anything. Will you really kill the brat? To betray the last bit of trust he has in you? To have truly failed him in every way? You and I both know the answer to that."**

Silence once again descended as both just stared at each other. Eventually the Kyuubi broke it off and walked away while saying, **"I will not be placed on the same team as the Uchiha. If I am then I can not guarantee his safety. Also this conversation as well as the fact that I am in control will be a secret between us."**

The chakra that surrounded Naruto's body dissipated and his body returned to normal. "To think, old man, that the villagers that tried to kill the brat all those years ago gave me the final piece. I don't know whether to kill them quickly as thanks or painfully to punish them for such foolishness."

"What do you mean by final piece?"

The Kyuubi just chuckled darkly at his and replied, "You'll find out soon enough"

With that he turned around and left the room. If anybody could have seen the look on his face when he turned around, they would have seen one difference in Uzumaki Naruto's face, his eyes. In his eyes were six concentric circles.

* * *

><p>Author's note: Whenever I have read fics where Naruto gets mobbed or beaten or anything like that I think "where the f**k are the ANBU?" so this is my reason for why they didn't stop it in time. I mean if your clan has kids in the academy, you wouldn't want some ninja to be spying on them while they're training and learn your secrets would you?<p>

Kyuubi has shown itself to be intelligent in canon and I imagine Kyuubi as the guy with fully buffed gear+max lvl at the start and honestly if we had that in a game we'd just go to town on everything...then it'd get boring. Thats when we start with the challenges. Pretty sure some ppl have done that in games as well, I know i have. You've got nothing to do so might as well max skills and mastery now.

Like I said Naruto will have a bloodline. Yes it is what you think it is. No it is not the same as in canon. I will put my own spin on it. As for Naruto himself, his relationship with Kyuubi is kinda like Sakon and Ukon where one just hangs back and lets the other do everything. He will take control sometimes but will mostly stay "inside".

Also as for the deal between the Kyuubi and Naruto and the bloodline, I will fully explain both later on. Next chapter: Tag in, the hero returns


	3. Tag in,the hero returns

It's been about two weeks since my last update and for that sorry but midterms are happening and while I'm extremely confident in physics...organic chemistry is making me "shit a brick" waiting to see what my mark is. Considering our prof said the avg was 59% and the lowest mark was 5%...yea at least I know i'm not last...i hope. Next chapter will most likely come out this Saturday but maybe Friday barring any other unexpected events.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else. My illustrations are made of EPIC FAIL.**

"Normal Speak"

_"Thought"_

_Flashback_

**Jutsu**

**"Kyuubi/Demon Speak"**

* * *

><p><strong>Previously:<strong>

With that he turned around and left the room. If anybody could have seen the look on his face when he turned around, they would have seen one difference in Uzumaki Naruto's face, his eyes. In his eyes were six concentric circles.

After leaving the Hokage's tower, 'Naruto' went back to 'his' apartment. After preparing for the night, 'he' went to 'his' bed and closed his eyes.

_(In Naruto's mindscape)_

The Kyuubi opened his eyes and looked around Naruto's mindscape. They say one's mindscape is a reflection of one's mental state and shows one's personality as well as giving insight on a person's history. This was very much the case with Naruto's mindscape. It had changed drastically from what it once was eight years ago when it was a dark and sewer-like. Now it is a desolate wasteland with a forest of fallen trees that long since died, trees that were once large and reached high into the sky, and a few dead trees here and there that still stood if just barely. The sky above was shrouded by grey clouds that allowed no light through or allowed one to glimpse what was beyond it, whether it be the Sun with a clear blue sky or the pitch black of night illuminated by the moon.

As the Kyuubi walked towards its destination, it could not but think about what the scene meant. The shrouded sky showed his container's personality much like its sewer-like appearance so long ago, unlike a clear sky which meant vibrancy, happiness, or other such emotions or a black night which showed one's reserved nature or one's preference to silence and privacy, this grey, cloudy sky showed his container's lack of, or better yet his attempt to rid of, his emotions. The sewer before with its darkness and shadows showed his true nature before, his sorrow, his pain, all the suffering that he hid behind a mask could never be hidden from his mindscape.

The emptiness of the sewer showed his lack of hope, his lack of bonds, now it has been replaced with a dead forest and a barren land where life, which represents hopes, dreams, and a plethora of many other things, has died. Where once hopes and dreams grew; now they are dead and litter this land where no new life could possibly grow. But even as he walked past this, the Kyuubi could not help but notice how every now and again he would see a small patch of plant life, each barely larger than a shuriken and no taller than a few inches, amongst the dead trees that filled this land.

After no more than a few minutes, the Kyuubi finally reached its destination: Konoha or rather Naruto's representation of it. It was a near perfect replica of the real one except it was in ruins and lifeless. The village was desolate and the buildings were either falling apart of were already in ruins. The love for the village that once resided in Naruto was now a distant memory, replaced by uncaring and indifference. This derelict village now acted as a reminder of his past feelings for the village, the state showing they have long since died.

As Kyuubi made his way to the Hokage faces, which have crumbled and the faces were mostly unrecognizable, Kyuubi called out,** "I know you're there and I know you were listening to the talk I had with the old man, so what do you think we should do now, brat?"**

Sitting on top of the faces was Uzumaki Naruto, who looked like he was meditating. He sighed before slowly opening his eyes to reveal six concentric circles surrounding his pupil. As soon as the Kyuubi came close enough, he replied, "I know we agreed that we would show him the truth so that later on problems regarding you would not cause as much of a hassle but was it really necessary to tell him so much?"

"**We had to gain his trust somehow or else he would have thought that I just took you over and would try to stop me. I figured telling him a little about myself and the deal we have would satisfy his curiosity. Playing with his guilt at how this happened would be enough to leave us alone, at least for now."**

Naruto could only sigh as he accepted this and asked, "Fine, I guess its okay since now we know he has accepted us, to a degree, and now we won't be placed with the Uchiha."

"**Yes, those tainted Uchihas and their eyes have always been a cause for suffering many times for both of us, both directly and indirectly. The less we have to do with that asshole, the better."**

"They really are the bane of your existence aren't they?"

"**Yes, they have caused nothing but trouble for me but after our deal is complete I won't ever have to worry about those fuckers, that fucking Mokuton, or anything ever again."**

"So….what did you mean by 'what we should do now'?"

"**Now that the old man knows about our secret, do we hold back or can we reveal our true abilities?"**

Naruto closed his eyes in thought and for a few moments stayed in silence until he opened his eyes and answered, "We'll stop holding back but we'll keep the eyes a secret until the right time."

The Kyuubi smirked at this with an evil look in his eyes before finally replying, **"HAHAHA…..Good so now we don't have to worry acting in front of all those bastards in the village. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see how strong the 'demon brat' truly is. They'll probably shit themselves in fear and demand our fucking death. So which measures can I drop now?"**

"The one concealing our true appearance won't make much of a difference and you can begin drastic changes to my body to increase strength, speed, stamina, chakra reserves, and everything else. We can drop the façade, slightly, but we shouldn't be too blatant in our changes. We'll slowly drop the other measures so as not to draw attention to ourselves. We'll just change our clothes and arm ourselves mostly."

"**Fine, I'll start flooding your body with my chakra and let it develop over the next day. We have three days until we have to go back to the academy and see who we're stuck with. So for the two days before that, I'll get everything ready." **With that, the fox left to start his work of flooding his container's body with his chakra and changing it.

Alone, Naruto resumed his meditation in his mindscape.

_(The next day-Naruto's apartment)_

After having used his chakra on his host's body all night, the Kyuubi got out of bed and looked over his work. While most of the changes affected the body internally, such as greater chakra capacity, better flexibility and senses, etc, there were some changes that were noticeable externally such as the build being less stocky and being lithe in appearance. This was done so that the muscles of Naruto's body became more compact and less bulgy so it would not affect his range of motion or his movements. While unnoticeable by just looking at them, these muscles are far stronger than they were before but the build was not the only notable change.

Naruto's body also grew a few centimeters in height, now being 150cm tall. The Kyuubi knew it could have made far more drastic changes to his host's body but that would only raise suspicions towards Naruto and that was the last thing they needed. No, those changes would be made but at a slower rate so nobody would suspect a thing. For now, 'Naruto' would get ready and go to the tower to get 'his' picture taken and forms filled out so that 'he' would officially become a shinobi.

_(The Hokage's tower)_

After 'Naruto' had filled in 'his' forms and left the tower, Sarutobi called all the jonin who applied to take a genin squad for a meeting where he would assign and place genin to the various jonin who applied. Eventually all of them arrived, with the exception of Kakashi who most likely wasn't coming for another two-three hours which would make it easier for him to move Naruto, and then started to assign the jonins a squad to test and see if they were capable of actually being genin. Most of which would fail said test but there was still a chance they could pass.

After making several decisions about the various graduates and assigning them to various teams, until it eventually came down to the placement of Naruto.

"…so Asuma will take Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino for squad ten" Hiruzen announced to the group of jonins.

Now came the hard part concerning Naruto and his 'friend'. "Now for squad eight, lead by Yūhi Kurenai, unlike what was requested, there will be a slight change to the roster."

At this Kurenai raised an eyebrow at the Hokage and replied, "And what change would that be Hokage-sama?"

"While your idea for a tracking/information gathering team is good, I believe replacing Kiba-kun with Naruto would be better."

Confused about the suggestion, and getting a few confused looks from the other jonin, she asked "Why would Uzumaki Naruto be better suited in a tracking/ information gathering team?"

"Well first of all, Naruto is capable of using **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** which is a great tool for scouting as well as being able to create dozens if not hundreds without being winded. Secondly, while he may not seem like it, he is incredibly stealthy when he wants to be and can easily hide from most jonins and even several ANBU. Both these skills would be a great addition to a team that scouts and gathers information and he would be able to follow his target or infiltrate a location with **Kage Bunshin** and dispel them to acquire their knowledge." explained the Hokage.

He then continued on with his explanation, "Also if you look at the dynamics of the team, I believe Naruto would be a better choice since both Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba come from clans that specialize in taijutsu and most like specialize in that themselves meaning that they will both be focused on close range combat while their other teammate, Aburame Shino, would specialize in his clan's techniques and be more of a medium range combatant. Instead of this, Naruto, with his large chakra reserves and his use of **Kage Bunshin** would most likely specialize in ninjustu and become a close to medium range combatant depending on the situation. It would give the team a better balance with Hinata specializing in close combat taijutsu, Shino in medium range support and combat with his clan techniques while Naruto specializes in ninjutsu and switch from close combat to mid-range combat and support as necessary depending on the situation."

As Kurenai listened to the old Hokage's reasoning, she thought it did make sense and was about to reply when he interrupted again.

"Also if you consider the members of squad seven which is focused mainly on combat, Uchiha Sasuke would most likely be a ninjutsu specialist while Haruno Sakura would become either a combat medic or a genjutsu user and act as support. Kiba-kun would be better suited to being the taijutsu specialist in the group and help balance it out as well as giving the team someone who could help locate or track their enemy."

After hearing such a detailed explanation from the Hokage, Kurenai could only accept the change to her requested team.

"Well then, with all the genin assigned, remember that they will be at the academy in two days from now. This meeting is officially over." With that, all the jonin filed out of his office to leave him to finish his duties.

After two hours, Hatake Kakashi finally arrived at the Hokage's office.

"Yo, sorry for being late, I saw a giant bunny and…" he trailed off as he saw that the only one in the room was the Hokage.

He then said,"Wow, everybody is late to the meeting"

At this Sarutobi could only deadpan at his antics and replied, "Actually the meeting ended….two hours ago."

"Oh….well….who's in my squad?"

Sarutobi just closed his eyes and sighed at the man's reply.

"Your squad will have Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Inuzuka Kiba."

"Wait I thought I would get Uzumaki Naruto."

Before the inevitable argument could occur he activated the privacy seals on the office before replying, "Well after much thought I thought it would be a better choice to place Naruto-kun in team 8 with Kurenai as his sensei."

"But why Hokage-sama, why not put Naruto o

After going back and forth for a while explaining their reasons on why they believe they are correct about Naruto's placement, Kakashi eventually relented although reluctantly.

"Very well Hokage-sama, but I really wish I could have trained sensei's son."

"I know you do but you must see that you can not only do what you feel is best. You must consider how it will affect the others."

"…Yes, Hokage-sama." With that, Kakashi left the office depressed by the fact that he would not be training his sensei's son.

After watching Kakashi leave, Hiruzen sighed in relief that he was able to make the changes to the teams but now he was wondering what the Kyuubi was up to but knew that rather than rashly attacking it, it would be better to just wait and monitor it before taking action. _"I'm getting too old for this shit"_

_(Next day- Naruto's apartment)_

Currently the Kyuubi was making all the preparations necessary to be fully combat ready. From the new clothing to supplies to adding more seals onto Naruto's body, Kyuubi knew this would take some time to finish but and on the outside was quiet and looked uncaring. On the inside, aka Naruto's mindscape, the Kyuubi was laughing maniacally at how 'everybody will shit themselves when seeing all the things Naruto would do'.

"_You're really getting into this aren't you?"_

"_Of course I am brat. Everything you'll do from now on will be my source of entertainment and I can't wait to see the reactions of all the trash in this village."_

"_Whatever just make sure you don't screw with the seals you're placing on my body."_

"_Please, I have centuries of knowledge on fuinjutsu. I could do this in my sleep."_

"_As long as you can do it properly, I don't really care how. If you need me I'll be in my usual place."_

After that little conversation, the Kyuubi continued with the preparations.

_(Two days later)_

Today was the day the graduates would go to the academy for their squad assignments and the Kyuubi had finished all the preparations needed.

As he was at the front door of the apartment he spoke to Naruto mentally.

"_Brat it's time for you to make your appearance."_

"_Yeah, now it's time for the real 'Uzumaki Naruto' to show everybody who he is."_

With that, Naruto took control of his body and headed towards the academy.

* * *

><p>Author's note:I always thought team 7 was horribly balanced and so were some of the other teams, maybe just from my weird POV. But who am I to judge?<p>

As for everyone who has seen the latest chapter...what the balls!Rinnegan-sharingan-Jinchuuriki-Pein Rikudo? Whats next? Zetsus will use Mokuton...actually that would be plausible..kinda.

At least he hasn't gone reviving every shinobi who died in the war so far onto their still...

Well enough of this. Next time: And the curtains rise


	4. And the curtains rise

**Yes it's been awhile. Honestly this chapter has been sitting on my computer half finished for over two months now. I don't know about you guys but writing their introductions was somewhat tedious and it felt like my will to write was being destroyed. With finals over, my vacation over(sobs), and back to a new semester, I am ready to write again. Also I have decided to write a my ideas down and publish it in a story called "A series of ideas" that will be posted sometime tonight. It will be multi chapter and every chapter will contain one or two ideas that i decided to write to see how others will feel about them and maybe they will become future fics i write. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else. My illustrations are made of EPIC FAIL.**

"Normal Speak"

_"Thought"_

_Flashback_

**Jutsu**

**"Kyuubi/Demon Speak"**

* * *

><p><strong>Previously:<strong>

"_Brat it's time for you to make your appearance."_

"_Yeah, now it's time for the real 'Uzumaki Naruto' to show everybody who he is."_

With that, Naruto took control of his body and headed towards the academy.

As Naruto walked towards the academy to see what team he would be placed in, his thoughts wandered towards his new appearance, or more specifically his new clothes. His hitai-ate was placed on his forehead as was standard and was the only thing about his wardrobe that did not change.

Gone were his navy blue t-shirt and bright orange jumpsuit and in their place were clothes of a darker and more pragmatic design. He now wore a dark blue long-sleeve shirt almost exactly like those worn by most chunin and jonin with the exception of the sleeves being slightly longer so that they covered the hands all the way down past the knuckles as well as the sleeves being looser so that he could place his hands into his sleeves or hide weapons in them. Underneath the shirt was a special mesh shirt that could deflect shuriken, kunai, and blades to a certain extent. While hidden by his sleeves, his arms were wrapped in bandages from the knuckles all the way to the elbows. His forearms were protected by armguards similar in design to ANBU except on top of the bandages and hidden from view by the long, loose sleeves. On his hands were black fingerless gloves that had a metal plate on the back.

He also wore the standard dark blue shinobi pants worn by most chunin and jonin. The ends of the pant legs were slightly loosed so that they could be rolled up but not so loose so that they would make much noise. The Kyuubi decided that instead of the standard open-toed shinobi sandals, the ones he wore were closed but other than that, they were exactly the same. On each thigh he had a holster and on his hips was two pouches filled with various pieces of equipment.

To top it all off, he had on a pale gray jacket with sleeves that went down midway between his elbows and shoulders. To the average person, his clothes would look quite normal even by shinobi standards but unknown to everyone else were the myriad of seals placed on and hidden by his new clothes.

As he looked at his new clothing he could not help but ask the Kyuubi a question, _"Hey Kyuubi, won't people be more suspicious of me due to my sudden change in appearance?"_

"_Hmmm… they might but your increase in height wouldn't really be that noticeable unless they looked extremely closely and now the changes that are being made to your body will be gradual so that people will not be suspicious. As for your change in clothing, you could merely say 'now that I'm a shinobi, I have to look the part too!' just like the persona we decided to use would say. People would just dismiss it as you trying to make yourself look better and pretending to be cool."_

"_Hmm, I guess you're right about that. Everybody is used to seeing me as a loudmouthed fool that has no real ability. Everybody will just underestimate me which just goes to my advantage."_

As Naruto and the Kyuubi continue conversing with each other mentally, Naruto eventually reaches the classroom at the academy. As soon as he walks in, many are confused about why Naruto, who failed, was doing here as well as his new wardrobe.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Only people who passed are supposed to be here!" yelled a random graduate.

At this, Naruto looked at up and saw that everyone was looking at him wondering the same thing. He replied by pointing to his hitai-ate and said, "This is proof that I passed and became a genin and therefore I am here to be assigned a team."

After that he ignored all the looks and questions the others were giving him and sat down and waited to be assigned a team.

_(Several minutes later)_

Iruka walked in not too long after everyone arrived and, after settling everyone down, he started talking about the duties and responsibilities of being shinobi before announcing the various genin teams.

During this Naruto did not pay attention and was reflecting on the training he has done as well as what he will do in the future to improve his skills while the Kyuubi would tell him when his name is announced.

"_I shouldn't show everything I'm capable of right from the start but I shouldn't hold back too much or they it might cost me. For now I'll make do with my taijutsu and some of my ninjutsu and slowly reveal more so that no one will notice my sudden increase in ability. Without a doubt I should hide my ey-"_

"_Hey brat, your name was just called. You're with the Hyuuga and the Aburame in team 8."_

Naruto's thoughts were cut short by the interruption to look at his teammates. He lloked to his right to see the girl, Hyuuga Hinata, blush and look down while poking her fingers together. While it went unnoticed by many, it could be seen that she was happy about being in the same team as the boy he loved. Naruto already knew since there were many times the Kyuubi would tell him about the various people and their feelings towards him so that he would not be completely out of the loop when he would take control of his body and meet them.

"_It will be quite devastating for her when she realizes the boy she loved and yearned to be with never existed or rather was just an act. Even worse is the fact that the boy she loved was actually the Kyuubi pretending to be human."_

"_I was not _pretending _to be human, brat. I was merely imitating what you would do…. or rather what the old you would have done."_

"_In a way that makes it even worse. The boy she loved is dead and she continued to love a mere illusion of him."_

"_You say 'dead' but you are still alive and there is the possibility she will accept you still. Who knows, maybe you two could grow to love each other. Haven't you always wondered what it would be like?"_

"_A small part of me yearned for love and acceptance but that was years ago. That part, along with everything else I yearned for and believed in, died that night just as I did. My eyes have been opened and now I see this world for what it is. Even if I find love, they will not understand me. All they will care about is what I am, what I have become, what I am capable of. They will not understand my suffering."_

"…_After that night, you've changed and despite what you think, although rare, there may be someone out there who will understand you. Do not think you've seen everything yet with those eyes."_

"_I'll keep that in mind but for now, my views will not change from a few words. But let's get back to the topic of my teammates."_

"_Right…well other than the girl that would basically do anything you asked, the Aburame will at the very least be neutral towards you. The Aburame are not exactly known for their emotion so this one will most likely have no hostility towards you. As for his ability, he is most likely one of the best in the class despite what his records say."_

Naruto already knew that there were several in the class that were stronger than they appear and that the title of 'rookie of the year', which was awarded to the Uchiha, was up to debate as there were many factors that were not taken into account as well as the fact that not everyone would try their best or be able to show their ability. The only real way to see who the best was would be through real life situations since anyone could be the best in a controlled environment like an academy. The best example of the shortcomings of the curriculum would be himself since he had never really attended the academy since the Kyuubi would control his body for that and he never showed even a fraction of what he was truly capable.

There were others in the class that were good examples of this, which should be expected when dealing with shinobi, like Shino who only did slightly above average and kept what he was truly capable of secret, Shikamaru who was a genius that with enough planning could hold his own against the best of genin maybe even some chunin, and Hinata who was too hesitant to use her full ability.

As he thought about his teammates, Iruka finished announcing the last teams and congratulated all the graduates one last time before telling them that their senseis would come pick them up in an hour. Naruto decided to go to the roof to have lunch and stayed there for about an hour before he started making his way back to the classroom.

After waiting for a few minutes the door opened and an attractive kunoichi with long, black untamed hair, red eyes, and an amazing figure appeared. She looked at the graduates and said, "Team 8, follow me." And with that she turned and left.

The members of team 8 immediately got up and started following their apparent sensei. While they were following her, Naruto started thinking about their sensei, _"Yuuhi Kurenai, the genjutsu mistress huh? Well it doesn't really matter that much who my sensei is."_

"_Are you serious, brat? It does matter who it is. I for one would prefer a female over a male."_

"_I know I'm going to regret asking this but why is a female better?"_

"_Having a hot kunoichi as your sensei is like a dream come true for many males. Imagine all the situations that could happen. Sparring with her and 'accidentally' copping a feel or something similar. Who knows, maybe she'll give you a late night 'training session'. Doesn't the thought of a little role playing with your sensei turn you on? Maybe she's the type that…."_

At that point Naruto decided he'd heard enough and started ignoring the fox. _"I knew I'd regret asking but I still can't believe the Kyuubi's a giant pervert. At least he's keeping most of his thoughts to himself….usually."_

As this was going on, team arrived at a training ground surrounded by a forest with a small lake to the side. Currently they were in a small clearing inside the training ground and the three genin hopefuls were sitting in front of their sensei.

After looking over her three charges, Kurenai started speaking, "Since we are going to be a team, we should start by getting to know a little bit about each other such as our names, likes, dislikes, and goals."

At this she pointed at Shino who replied, "My name is Aburame Shino. I enjoy finding new specimens for my insect collection. I am fond of winter melon and hate tofu balls or any strong smelling foods. My goal is to master my clan's jutsus."

At this, Kurenai nodded and replied, "That's an admirable goal, now what about you?"

She next pointed to Naruto who responded, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like to train and learn new jutsus. I don't really have any preference to any food or hate any food. My dislikes are arrogant people and those that think they know better. My goal…to fulfill a certain promise I made a long time ago."

Kurenai thought it was strange how his personality was different from what was written on the report and what she had heard about his behavior but thought that while it was different from what she expected, wasn't necessarily bad since Naruto seemed calmer and would be more mature. Finally she decided to watch him for a little while longer that is if they passed her little test. She looked to her final student which she was very familiar with. "Hinata, it's your turn."

Now that everyone's attention was on her, Hinata stuttered out, "M-M-My n-name is H-Hyuuga H-Hinata, I l-like f-flower pressing, r-red bean soup, a-and cinnamon r-rolls. I d-don't like c-crabs and sh-shrimp. M-my goal i-is to..." At this she quickly glanced towards Naruto and immediately her face started to redden. "…i-is t-to …g-gain confidence." Having lost what little confidence she decided on another goal instead of telling everyone what she really wanted: To tell Naruto how she felt about him.

At this sight Kurenai thought, _"It seems she still has no confidence in herself...well it shouldn't be that much of a problem since the one she has a crush on is a part of her team. If they get along then it'll definitely have a positive effect on her personality."_

"Well I guess it's my turn to introduce myself. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I like shochu and takowasa but I hate cake. My goal is to become the greatest genjutsu I can become. Now that introductions are out of the way, I would like to inform you that only two of the three of you can actually become genin while the other one goes back to the academy."

The three genin have various looks of surprise on their faces at what they were just told as well as the fact that their sensei said it as though she were talking about the weather.

After giving them a moment for it to sink in, she continued, "The three of you have to decide who will have to go back to the academy and who will stay as genin. You have three minutes to decide."

After watching the three of them talk amongst one another for three minutes, Kurenai asked them "So who did you choose to be sent back to the academy?"

The three looked at each other, nodded, and replied," None of us."

"It would be illogical to place us together as a team and have us introduce ourselves to each other if we were going to be broken up afterwards." replied Shino.

"Th-that's r-right. Th-there's n-no reason w-why they w-would place us t-to-together o-only to br-break u-us up." stuttered Hinata.

"I've never heard of a genin team starting with two members. They always have three genin and one jonin sensei." added Naruto.

"Well it seems you passed." said Kurenai.

The three looked a little confused at her words before she explained herself, "This choice was to see if you would be able to trust each other in a situation that would place you at risk. It was to see if you were willing to place yourselves in a position that would jeopardize your careers and help your comrades. Seeing as you were all unwilling to turn on each other, all of you have proven yourselves ready to be genin. While some of your skills may not be as sufficient, that can be fixed with time and training. Tomorrow we will meet here for training in the morning at 8 sharp and will go for missions in the afternoon. You are all dismissed."

With their meeting finished, all members said their goodbyes and left for their homes to tell their families, or the Hokage for Kurenai and back to training in Naruto's case.

"_So my life as an official shinobi begins now."_

* * *

><p>Author's note: With recent chapters, my original idea just got easier due to shisui's sharingan and harder due to Pein. My Mokuton!Zetsu hasn't come true but that's a it will still work. Next chapter will be sometime next week: A land shrouded in mist<em><br>_


End file.
